The
team over at Shelter Wise has revealed its latest tiny house
build, which boasts a feeling of added space and lots of natural
light. The "Hikari Box" home features a 184-sq ft (17-sqm) open floorplan, a 79-sq ft (705-sqm) main sleeping loft
and an additional 23-sq ft (2-sqm) small loft. The overall design is a
culmination of several shed roof designs that Shelter Wise has used
in the past, combining the best features of all of them into one
single home.

"We
like to keep our designs simple and a shed roof is as simple as it
gets, we also wanted a lot of natural light, hence the 14 windows," builder and designer at Shelter Wise, Derin Williams, tells Gizmag. "This goes back to the name 'Hikari', which means 'light filled' in
Japanese."

The
Hikari tiny home was built inside
a conditioned warehouse using kiln-dried lumber, cedar siding, dark
walnut for the cabinetry and stairs, bamboo and Marmoleum flooring
and a metal standing seam roof. Building in a controlled environment,
according to specific standards, allowed the team at Shelter Wise to
create a home that meets its high level of standards, while
avoiding weather and moisture-related defects.

The
Hikari Box home features 14 windows which are made with double pane
glass to provide a high insulation value and lots of natural light.
The home is also insulated with a mixture of foam and fiberglass
insulation that is made completely from recycled materials and no
off-gassing chemicals. According to Williams, the floor and roof
assemblies have some of the highest insulation values amongst the
tiny house world.

"One
of our favorite features of this home is the insulated floor
assembly, at R28 it's one of the highest insulated floors in a tiny
house out there and would be great for radiant floor heating," says
Williams. "Most of our materials come from within 50 miles (80.5 km) of our facility, so that helps lower our
product's carbon foot print."

A
lot of effort has gone into making this tiny home not only practical
but also very comfortable to live in. The home's numerous windows and
skylights provide ample natural light into the interior spaces and
different outlooks onto the surrounding landscape. The living zone
was specifically designed as an open space, which allowed the new
owners to furnish the home as they wished.

The
living room features access to an elevated small loft via a wooden
ladder, and a bespoke staircase which boasts lots of hidden storage
space leads to the main loft. The master loft features a queen bed and a bank of built-in storage shelves. The fully equipped
kitchen is large and spacious, featuring lots of preparation and
storage space, comfortable sink, a 4-burner gas range, large fridge and a
long bar-type table which can be used for dining or working. The
bathroom comes complete with a standing 32 x 32-inch (81 x 81-cm)
fiberglass shower, a small sink and a composting toilet.

The
Hikari Box features a tankless water heater and can also be fitted
with rooftop solar panels down the track. To minimize water usage, all
faucets and shower heads have a low gallon-per-minute usage rate,
while still maintaining a decent pressure.

"The
fun thing about working with small spaces is using different
materials and design strategies to make a space feel open and
welcoming," says Williams. "Tiny homes are often limited by
their width and height, especially when meant to be transported on
the road. These dimensions of 8.5ft [2.6m] wide and 13.5ft [4.3m]
tall can make for an awkward looking tiny home. Using materials and
windows that are proportional can help the space, from the inside and
out, look more pleasing to the eye. This is always a fun challenge."

The
Hikari Box tiny home took four months to complete and cost roughly
US$65,000 to build. Interested buyers can purchase the plans from Pad Tiny Houses for just US$99.